5 Common Causes of Blocked Drains and How to Prevent Them

Blocked drains are a source of frustration which can cause a disruption in your daily life. They can result in the destruction of your home’s plumbing, unpleasant odours, and even health risks. If they are not addressed promptly blocked drains may cause grave problems to your plumbing system, which could lead to costly repair or even replacement.
Key Takeaways
- The blockage of drains can affect your routine and lead to flooding, unpleasant odours and even health hazards.
- The fat, oil and grease build-up can clog the pipes’ walls causing obstructions; try not to pour grease down the drain or use soap and hot water to wash dishes.
- Tree roots naturally extend in the ground to find nutrients which may cause significant damage, and also block the pipes completely leading to flooding; regularly maintain the trees surrounding drainage systems by trimming them.
- Disposing of non-biodegradable materials like wet toiletries, wipes, etc. could cause unpleasant odors emanating from bins and toilets. only use toilet paper to flush down drain.
- Hair
In this post, we’ll review five common reasons for blocked drains and what you can do to keep them from happening.
Cause 1. Grease, Oil and Fat buildup
Fat, grease and oil could appear as harmless substances to flush down the drain, but over time they accumulate over the insides of the pipes, causing an obstruction. In this case, water is unable to move freely through the drainpipes. It is best to avoid pouring grease down the drain or make use of hot water and soap while cleaning dishes since it can help remove greasy substances.
Cause 2. Tree Roots
As time passes, tree roots naturally extend themselves into the ground in search of nutrients, which means that they grow towards underground pipes. Once inside the pipes, tree roots can cause massive damage and can completely stop them from flowing, causing flooding. It’s important therefore if you have trees nearby to regularly monitor the growth of your trees around drainage systems by trimming them regularly.
Cause 3: Flushed items
It’s easy to think that flushing items that aren’t biodegradable like wet wipes, sanitary towels etc. won’t cause any significant problems in the long term, However, if a large amount of these items are flushed down toilets they will resultantly in the accumulation of other items, thereby in the way of pipes. This could cause a bad smell to be released around bins and toilets! Be aware of what needs to be flushed, and what shouldn’t (i. e only toilet paper should be flushed away).
Cause 4 Cause 4: Hair
Additional Information
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- Save Future Expenses with CCTV Drain Inspection for Home Buyers
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